Leopards players issue boycott threat over Sh1.8m allowances
It’s the season of strikes and go-slows in Kenyan football, with AFC Leopards players the latest to join this bandwagon.
On Friday, Leopards players boycotted training, demanding for Sh1.8 million worth of unpaid match winning bonuses and training allowances.
This development has put to risk the possibility of the players boycotting their next SportPesa Premier League clash against Kakamega Homeboyz in Machakos.
“We don’t have any money to pay them at the moment and players will have to understand. We held talks with them last (Friday) evening and we are looking to talk to them and plead with them to honour the Homeboyz game,” a Leopards official who spoke to Nairobi News off the record explained.
ALLOWANCES
Leopards players have not been paid their winning allowances for the last eight matches. Each player receives Sh7,000 for a win in a “home” game, and Sh. 1,000 more for a win in an away game.
Consequently, Leopards join arch-rivals Gor Mahia and Nakumatt as top flight sides currently experiencing cash flow challenges.
Gor Mahia players also staged a go-slow earlier this week, days after the team was locked out of their Camp Toyoyo grounds over accrued debts.
The SportPesa Premier League clubs are currently undergoing a cash crunch, in the wake of a abrupt withdrawal by the the competition’s then television rights holders SuperSport, plus the unavailability of stadiums in Nairobi owing to the government commissioned renovations ahead of the 2018 Africa Nations Championship.
This has forced teams to incur extra expenses to travel away for games.